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November 26, 2019Turnaround still elusive at Vodafone Europe
Focus Report, ReportsVodafone continues to strike a very shareholder-friendly focus and tone but its operating performance remains decidedly muted, with revenue growth up just a touch but EBITDA growth halved. Vodafone’s drive for convergence is still costing it dearly. German mobile ARPU is down 7% and Liberty Global’s assets disappointed on their first consolidation with cashflow enhancement less than half that expected. Apart from its ill-advised convergence strategy, Vodafone is making many sensible moves and there are indications that its unlimited plans are gaining traction. With leverage tight, pressure is mounting for demonstrable improvements in the financials some time very soon.
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November 26, 2019Local UK media at a crossroads: from incremental to radical innov [...]
Focus Report, Market Outlook, ReportsLocal newspapers are often identified as the most disrupted of all media. The impact of declining news media has widespread implications: for the healthy functioning of democracy, community and social cohesion as well as for local business and trade. In this report we look briefly at the existential state of local news media, and spell out a radical new approach that would require a complete rethink of local journalism and its commercial and operating models. We reimagine local media as a start-up would, rather than as incumbents with expensive models to maintain. -
November 25, 2019Cybercrime – The Upside
Focus Report, ReportsMarket disruption caused by cybercrime and continued technology growth has created a range of market opportunities for cybersecurity. Cybersecurity education, managed services, insurance and innovative cyber start-ups are all strong areas of growth in the Australian market. -
November 25, 2019Sky UK Q3 2019 results: balanced, but more to come?
Focus Report, ReportsWhile Sky’s overall revenues continue to rise, Q3’s growth was hampered by a significant fall in advertising revenue and to a lesser extent a slowdown in content sales. Underlying EBITDA growth was in the mid-teens. Next quarter, Sky will continue to benefit from lower Premier League rights costs versus last season, and profit appears on track to meet full year guidance. Q3 saw a rare decline in Sky’s total number of customers due to the conclusion of Game of Thrones. Sky clearly understands the value of unique content—recently extending its HBO deal. In our view, this was essential, since without a distribution deal for Disney+ (launching in the UK in March) Sky would lose Disney’s alluring content.
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November 19, 2019Health tech making big inroads in Australia’s health sector
Focus Report, ReportsVenture Insights believes that increases in Australian health costs are unsustainable into the medium term. Health costs are on the rise, with the FY17 real rate of growth for health spending increasing to 4.7%, relative to the 5-year average of 3.1%. Given that health costs exceed inflation and growth in GDP, it is only natural that Federal and State governments will either need to restrict their services or find substantial productivity gains to maintain health services over the medium and longer term. In this report we explore the roll of health platforms to deliver productivity gains. Telstra Health having invested around $235 million on various platforms and software is arguably the largest of any such players in the Australia market. Is Telstra the natural party to own Telstra Health or is it time that a new owner steps up and takes it to the next phase of its evolution? -
November 18, 2019O2 UK doing better than appears in tough times
Focus Report, ReportsIn spite of total revenue growth of 4%, O2’s service revenue growth took another step down to -3% this quarter, consistent with the worsening environment and EE’s results. Its true performance is likely better than reported as IFRS15 has an artificially dampening effect on its service revenue as a consequence of O2’s Custom Plans, and is something of a boost to its impressive 6% EBITDA growth. O2 needs to continue to pedal hard to keep ahead of this challenging environment – with little let-up on the regulatory front, more aggression from Vodafone and H3G, and a potential regulatory hit to its Custom PlansSector Telecom. -
November 18, 2019IoT & Cryptocurrency Mining: Cyber Security Update
Focus Report, ReportsThe Internet of Things represents a significant and growing target area for cyber criminals. The growth in cryptocurrencies is focussing cyber criminals on the benefits of crypto-mining malware. Individuals, businesses and governments need to include IoT related cyber risks in their security controls and plans. -
November 18, 2019
Free video! Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max and Peacock in a rush for [...]
Focus Report, ReportsNew SVOD entrants are prioritising reach over revenue in the US with extensive ‘free’ offers, including Apple TV+ (to hardware buyers), Disney+ (to Verizon customers), HBO Max (to HBO subscribers) and Comcast’s Peacock (to basic cable homes). This is the latest development in an unfolding global story of partnerships, continuing on from multiple Netflix and Amazon distribution deals with platforms, bringing benefits to both parties. In Europe, Sky faces price pressure, but it has secured its HBO partnership and can now talk to Disney from a position of strength. -
November 14, 2019Webscale Playbook: Baidu
Focus Report, ReportsBaidu, often referred to as “China’s Google”, is embarking on a new journey to pursue growth outside its core search and advertising business. That’s vital as the online advertising business is maturing, yet Baidu continues to rely heavily on it (80% of 2017 revenues). -
November 12, 2019UK’s TI Media goes back to the Future
Focus Report, ReportsSpecialist publisher Future has offered £140m for generalist TI Media’s 41 brands, which will give Future 220 global brands upon expected completion in Spring 2020. The acquisition, which includes wholesaler Marketforce, is contingent upon shareholder and CMA approval. Future is the darling of publisher stocks, pursuing an energetic growth and scale strategy, and diversifying revenues through digital and experience innovation. How Future’s culture of experimentation and optimisation will work with TI Media’s more general portfolio is an open question. Only time will tell if the overall portfolio balance will work. -
November 11, 2019
UK’s BT: Bumps on the road to recovery
Focus Report, ReportsBT suffered a weak Q2 with revenue and (particularly) EBITDA declines accelerating, but this was mainly down to timing (particularly at Openreach, which will likely recover in Q3), with the company confident in maintaining full year expectations. BT’s fixed broadband business enjoyed some recovery as the pricing environment improves, but will suffer another price timing bump next quarter, and its mobile business is suffering from a tough market environment that is unlikely to improve in the short term. The company is busy re-branding, re-positioning and transforming, but the outlook for football rights costs and fibre roll-out regulation will dominate in the short term, and further bumps (such as the Virgin MVNO contract loss) may emerge. -
November 8, 2019Streaming wars and the future of Foxtel
Focus Report, ReportsUp until a few years ago, Foxtel has enjoyed an uninterrupted run as the monopoly premium Pay TV provider in Australia. But the arrival of international SVOD players and the rise of local challengers has made a dent in Foxtel’s business.We believe the challenges that Foxtel faces are structural in nature and Foxtel could find it tough to recover lost ground.
November 6, 2019Champions League rights auction: BT’s cost-cutting opportunity
Focus Report, ReportsChampions League UK TV rights, at £394m/season, appear to have reached a ceiling, with costs on a per match basis now comparable to the more-desirable Premier League. In the imminent auction, current rightsholder BT is the clear frontrunner. Potential competitors appear reluctant: Sky Sports has thrived since losing the rights in 2015, and no other players can reasonably compete at this spend. This presents BT with a golden opportunity to rein in costs, with a view to moving BT Sport towards breakeven at an important time for the wider business, considering the financial pressure it is facing
November 4, 2019Peak football revenues and post-boom scenarios
Focus Report, ReportsBroadcast licensing revenues for football are likely to be ex-growth in the top five markets in Europe, with some limited upside from sponsorship and out-of-Europe rights. The broadcast revenue boom stoked the rise of super clubs with global fan bases, feeding player transfer valuations, and a potential downturn of the latter could magnify the impact of the revenue decline. The leagues in Italy, France and Spain are more exposed to the risks of broadcast licensing revenue decline, while the Premier League’s model looks robust
October 31, 2019Australian MVNO Market Overview
Focus Report, ReportsOn 29th October 2019, Venture Insights presented their views on the Australian MVNO market at Telstra Wholesale’s Business Connect conference in Sydney.Global MVNO market size is expected to nearly double between 2018 to 2025, growing at CAGR of about 8%.The Australian MVNO market has grown from 1.5m subscribers in 2010 to 3.2m subscribers in 2018. MVNO subscribers have grown at a CAGR of 10% (2011-18) compared with MNO handset subscribers which have grown at a CAGR of 0.9%. However, MVNOs have over 20% in metro areas – demonstrating continued market focus on pricing. In addition, our survey results showed strong future demand for MVNOs. ~40% of metro respondents who were considering shifting, indicating they would select a MVNO. As such, we expect MVNO subscriber market share to continue to rise especially in metro areas. With a focus on niche segments or linkages to strong brands, the test of most MVNOs is (i) how well they know their target customers, (ii) what other services could be bundled and (iii) are there new market segments to target.Sector Telecom.
October 30, 2019Webscale Playbook: Alphabet
Focus Report, ReportsAlphabet is out to prove that it is more than just an advertising business. That’s important as the company remains heavily exposed to ads, which accounted for about 86% of 2017 revenues. Yet, Alphabet is facing new competition in ads from Amazon, plus ongoing regulatory scrutiny in Europe. Fortunately the company is generating incredible amounts of cash each quarter, and now has just under $102B in cash & stocks on hand. That has allowed the company to invest heavily in its network, with capex amounting to a telco-like 17.2% of revenues over the last four quarters. Alphabet also spends another ~15% of revenues on R&D. The goal of these investments is help the company enter (or create) new markets, with less ad-dependent business models. Alphabet’s vast network infra supports the company’s cloud computing and device portfolio, as well as AI-based projects in transportation (Waymo), logistics (Project Wing), and healthcare (Verily). As a result, Alphabet’s network, IT & software capex has soared, to $8.2B over the 4Q17-3Q18 period (from $4.1B the year prior).
October 28, 2019UK SVOD subscriber trends: who is buying and how many subs
Focus Report, ReportsWith a raft of new streaming services about to hit, there remains a question as to the appetite for multiple subscriptions. Pay-TV subscribers continue to be more likely to take SVOD services—especially when they are distributed on their set-top boxes—however the average number of services per household is well below one. Greater variety and quality of services will likely increase the average number of subscriptions but given the siloing nature of these services, Netflix’s incumbency, library and distribution are its strength; new entrants will battle for a supplementary role
October 24, 2019Webscale Playbook: Alibaba
Focus Report, ReportsAlibaba, once viewed as China’s answer to Amazon, has grown into a giant since its inception in 1999. Though still just about a fifth of Amazon’s size (by revenues), Alibaba has grown rapidly and outshines Amazon in some areas. Its scale in e-commerce is impressive: (i) Alibaba ships 12 million packages a day, 4x of Amazon; and, (ii) Alibaba’s “Singles Day” has become the world’s biggest shopping event. Alibaba has invested heavily in network infrastructure to support its businesses, not just e-commerce but also cloud computing, audio/video streaming, and devices. As a result, Alibaba’s network-related demand has soared in the recent times. It now accounts for over 5% of global webscale network/IT capex, from about 1% in 2012. Alibaba’s network spend share will continue to grow, but will be reshaped by the ongoing US-China trade war.
October 23, 2019UK Telecoms sector returns: Money’s too tight to mention
Focus Report, ReportsMobile sector returns are low, particularly for smaller-scale operators, with H3G earning less than its cost of capital. Regulatory initiatives, spectrum auctions and 5G look set to worsen this picture as H3G strives to gain viable scale. Back-book pricing is crucial to the returns of fixed challengers. Regulatory intervention is likely to lead to a waterbed effect in the fixed sector and exacerbate challenges in mobile. New entrant business case in full fibre is limited to de facto monopoly opportunities. There is the potential for BT’s returns to increase markedly if it gets full fibre right but new entrants’ inferior economics are unlikely to offer sufficient investor appealSector Telecom.
October 22, 2019Programmatic OOH: Coming soon to a billboard near you?
Focus Report, ReportsProgrammatic advertising in OOH is still a new concept in Australia and the groundwork in terms of digitisation and audience measurement is still being laid. While, many OOH players have introduced their version of programmatic advertising, the risk of having a fragmented market with multiple proprietary systems means that programmatic OOH may fail to take off. Outdoor, or out-of-home, advertising is distinct from other forms of advertising. It is highly visible, often very large, and placed in heavily trafficked areas in order to attract as many viewers as possible. Moreover, unlike television, radio, print, internet, and mail advertising, outdoor advertising cannot be turned off, put away or easily avoided. Traditionally OOH was mostly a real estate or location play but with digitisation, it’s now becoming increasingly focused on audience targeting and improving engagement. Industry players are looking to bring additional functionality, formatting and effectiveness to advertisers beyond just digitising existing sites, along with investing in improving measurement technology to help build further advertiser confidence in out-of-home. In particular, programmatic advertising which has transformed the online advertising space could play an important role in the growth of the OOH market going forward. In this report, we explore what programmatic advertising is and the impact it could have on the OOH market. We also look at the key challenges that OOH players face and the risk of Google, a global leader in programmatic advertising, making an entry into the OOH market.Sector Media.
October 17, 2019Global & Australian gaming market trends – mobile, cloud a [...]
Focus Report, ReportsMobile gaming is now the dominant driver in the global gaming market accounting for more revenue than console and PC combined and the majority of all growth. This shift has been enabled by improvements to internet infrastructure, from stronger mobile networks to faster wireline bandwidth to better cloud-based delivery models; however, there hasn’t been a significant amount of direct monetisation by telcos, as they have only dipped their toes, at best, into this new source of demand.Sector Media.October 15, 2019Shared Infrastructure Models and O-RAN Vendor Disruption
Focus Report, ReportsWith mobile network operators facing increased network spend and still defining incremental 5G revenue opportunities, Venture Insights believes it is time to look again at network sharing models. In particular we believe a focus on regional RAN sharing and small cells may be targets for either joint venture or neutral host players. Venture estimates that Government (States/Federal) and Industry spend at the end of round 6 of the blackspot program could be as high as $1.2B. Plus there is additional regional connectivity spending from states around Australia. Examples of blackspot funding for regional rail projects highlight the lack of benefits for all end customers from non-shared network projects versus shared. If Governments continue to heavily subsidise regional network coverage then they should consider the customer benefits of active RAN infrastructure sharing and the use of train repeaters to maximise investment outcomes. In addition, since these networks are capable of wireless and fixed wireless solutions, these network models should also consider the role of NBN.Sector Telecom.
October 14, 2019Women’s sport: inching towards the UK media mainstream
Focus Report, ReportsMedia coverage of women’s sport escalated this summer thanks to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which ignited national interest. The Lionesses attracted an exceptional peak TV audience of 11.8 million for England’s semi-final match against the USA. Still, coverage of women's sport remains minimal outside of major events: only 4% of printed sports articles reference female athletes. Quality press are leading the way—the launch of Telegraph Women’s Sport being the prime example—but the popular press are yet to follow. Freely-accessible coverage will generate greater interest and audiences for women’s sport, but continuous investment from all media will be needed to fulfil its potential.
October 10, 2019UK BVOD advertising: on-demand in demand
Focus Report, ReportsBroadcaster video on demand (BVOD) advertising is in demand with an £89m rise in 2018 spend to £391m, and is predicted to double within the next six years. The rise of on-demand viewing has created a scaled advertising proposition with a strong 16-34 profile – a relief for both broadcasters and advertisers, given the long-term decline in linear TV impacts for younger audiences. Big challenges remain: linear TV ad loads look excessive in on-demand, BVOD CPTs can be off-puttingly high, and measurement is still unresolved. BVOD is a welcome bright spot which faces online video competition head-on, but it won’t be able to turn broadcasters’ fortunes around alone
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